England soccer legend Gary Lineker’s incredible prediction about Gianni Infantino over 10 years ago
Gary Lineker is one of the greatest strikers to come out of England, and his post playing career as a television pundit has been just as impressive.
Everyone seems to be turning against FIFA president Gianni Infantino in the days, and weeks following the end of the World Cup. One person who probably isn’t surprised the public’s resentment of the head of the world soccer’s governing body is Gary Lineker.
Is soccer for sale?
Infantino was already on the hot seat during the World Cup and even before. He galavanted from country to country, city to city, and match to match created a public persona that was not appreciated by fans around the globe. Each and every time he was shown on the big screen of stadiums during the World Cup, fans joined forces to boo the president of FIFA.
"[Football] is not Fifa's to sell."
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 28, 2026
Uefa has released a statement in response to reports that Fifa intends to expand football development funding to more than £7.5bn. More below ⏬ pic.twitter.com/0mOMZgsP9Z
The jeers weren’t unfounded. There were decisions that were hard to explain, and many people, players and experts thought Infantino was meddling with the integrity of the sport a little too much. Now he is looking to privatize the World Cup by launch a sister company that would oversee the commercial and event organization of the World Cup, and is planning on selling shares to private investors.
It’s a stunning announcement that has been met by swift backlash from soccer federations and the European soccer governing body, UEFA. UEFA released a scathing response to Infantino’s plan, claiming the sport “isn’t for sale” and that soccer is “not FIFA’s to sell.”
Lineker had a feeling
While there were plenty left shocked, stunned and disappointed by the controversy that blanketed the tournament, one man saw this coming, Gary Lineker posted on X a decade ago, claiming he has “this weird feeling that Gianni Infantino will pull of his mask to reveal Sepp Blatter.”
Gary Lineker tweeted this in 2016. https://t.co/L83WHarOH5
— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) July 29, 2026
The post has resurfaced following the announcement from Infantino. The tweet references Sepp Blatter, who was Infantino’s predecessor who spent fifteen years as president of FIFA before recieiving a ban from the sport after being found guilty of ethics violations. Infantino was elected president soon after, and here we are just over a decade later.
Infantino, who is bidding for reelection in November, responded to backlash of his vision saying, “FIFA has transformed over the last decade through sweeping governance reforms and major expansion of development and competitions. Strengthening the commercial side of football is the natural next step in that evolution.”
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